I Love the Flower Girl
by Kuramastrass
Summary: Oneshot, the sequel to Until Death. Kurama attempts to cope with Kari's passing by going outside and getting some fresh air. He sees a sprightly apparition that reminds him what happiness feels like and reminds him to make the most what time he has left.


**This is the sequel to Until Death, which doesn't seem to be as popular as it was the first time around. Oh well.**

**Kurama's being moody and emo after his sister dies. And goes for a walk. Yeah...**

**I don't think I've changed anything since I last had it up. I'm slightly ashamed of it, yes. But I figured I might as well get it back up. It has a sequel that I think most of ya'll will like.**

**So... here's "I Love the Flower Girl". Review, pretty please?**

I decided to take a walk through the park... It was raining and slightly chilly, but that didn't bother me in the least. Nothing much had bothered me since the day Kari had died...

But _why_ I had decided to take a walk in the park... I suppose it was because I wanted to clear my head and I felt a need to do something other than lay around... Few people would be in the park because of the rain, although it was barely a drizzle.

I felt no need to see other people, to hear them tell me that they were sorry for my loss. Every time I heard someone say that the wound in my heart was cut deeper, from being reminded yet again that she was gone.

I slipped a light jacket over what I was already wearing and silently stepped out of the house. Hands in my pockets, and my eyes downcast, I walked slowly and silently on the empty sidewalk, and once reaching the park, the empty pathway.

_I saw her sitting in the rain... raindrops falling on her... She didn't seem to care; she sat there and smiled at me..._

There was something burning red amongst the trees. It caught my attention and aroused my curiosity for the first time in a long while. Wondering what it could be, I glanced upward and saw _her_.

Kari, wearing what she had been dressed in the day of her funeral...

She sat on a higher, thicker branch of an old elm tree, her back to the strong trunk. Her legs were drawn to her chest and her arms linked gently around them to hold them in place.

Her lifeless gaze with her glazed eyes focused on some imaginary object floating in the distant cloudy grey sky, droplets of water from the leaves above falling slowly to land upon her. The rain didn't seem to trouble her; in fact, I wasn't completely sure if she was even _aware_ of the fact that it was raining.

Stepping forward, my shoe making a painfully loud sound on the part of the pavement wet from the rain, I drew her attention to me at last. Her eyes, identical to my own, sparkled to life like the raindrops on the grass below her. As they locked with mine, she smiled.

_Then I knew... she could make me happy..._

I found myself smiling as well. Even if she wasn't truly there, that was so like her... and whenever she smiled I could never do anything but return hers with one of my own. When I saw her part of the wound in my heart healed, and I began to feel like more than just an empty shell of a person.

I took a few steps toward her and she silently slid out of the tree for a perfect landing on the grass wet from dew below.

_Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere...  
_

I realized for the first time that the trees and other plants were in bloom, and various flowers were tangled in her hair.

_I love the flower girl..._

_Oh, I don't know just why; she simply caught my eye..._

_I love the flower girl..._

_She seemed so sweet and kind; she crept into my mind..._

_I knew I had to say "Hello"...  
_

I finally approached her. She didn't seem to be a vision; she seemed solid. But I was at a loss of what to say.

I had been with her when she died, and I had been at her funeral, watching her casket get lowered into the ground. The person dearest to me, whom I thought I had lost, was standing before me.

I simply spoke her name. "Kari-chan," I murmured softly.

_She smiled up at me. Then she took my hand, and we walked through the park... alone._

She smiled again, this one more genuine and loving.

Though, she had never been this silent, and she seemed far too calm. Normally she was full of energy; it was rare her to remain so silent, or so still. It was _odd_, for her to be that way; it was as though she _couldn't_ speak._  
_She slipped her hand into mine, linking our arms. My slightly larger hand fit around her delicate one like a glove. Letting her lead me, we walked on the empty pathway. Her head found its place on my shoulder, and there it rested.

_And I knew... she had made me happy..._

_Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere..._

_I love the flower girl..._

_Oh, I don't know just why; she simply caught my eye._

_I love the flower girl..._

_She seemed so sweet and kind; she crept into my mind...  
_

Suddenly, she was ahead of me, walking backwards to face me. She was moving faster than me; she brought my arm with her, her hand slowly slipping from my grasp as she moved farther ahead. Then she turned and continued. I ran to catch up to her.

- -

She had brought me to a clearing in the woods. Panting lightly, I took a look around. The trees sheltered us almost completely. And unless she had changed, I knew exactly what she wanted.

But if it meant that she could stay, I would do anything.

I brought her down with me. We lay on top of grass slightly wet from the rain that still continued to fall and various flowers, like those in her hair, very near each other. Even though she couldn't or wouldn't speak, I could hear her crying out all the same. Slowly, I reached out for her. I moved partially onto her, and once having pinned her beneath me, I leaned into a kiss.

- -

We had stayed like that for a long while. Eventually I broke away and turned onto my back, pulling her close. She grabbed onto me as well. I knew she would never want to leave. She had once, and I doubted that she wanted to again.

The rain had lifted just a little, and with it still coming down upon us I closed my eyes and fell into the first peaceful sleep I had had for a while.

_Suddenly, the sun broke through... I turned around; she was gone.  
_

When I awoke the rain had stopped and a few small rays of the sun had begun to poke their way through the grey clouds. I was wet but not soaked and I instantly realized that the presence of my sister was missing.

_And all I had left... was one little flower in my hand...  
_

Sitting upright and turning toward where she had been, I found a single pink rose, also wet from the rain, delicately placed in my right hand... the arm that had been holding her against me.

_But I knew... she had made me happy..._

My wounded heart felt almost completely healed, and the sight of the flower where there had once been my sister did not hurt as much as I thought that it would.

_Flowers in her hair, flowers everywhere..._

I remembered the way she had looked, more beautiful than ever, the flowers tangled in her hair... She had always belonged in nature, and that was where she now found home.

_I love the flower girl..._

But my thoughts from when I had first seen her returned to haunt me...

_Was she reality... or just a dream to me?_

_I love the flower girl..._

_Will love show me the way to find a sunny day?_

Simply seeing her once again after I thought I had lost her had renewed my will to live...

_I love the flower girl..._

_Was she reality... or just a dream to me?_

Had she truly been there, returning to visit me, trying to heal my broken heart and broken spirit? Or had she been only a figment of my imagination? And whichever she was, now that she had left me for the second time, would I ever see her again?

After pondering this, I stood up and went home, having decided to give the flower to my mother. Maybe it would cheer her up as it had me...

- Kuramastrass -


End file.
